Beaverton School District Superintendent Jeff Rose sees a school year of "revived hope" two years after the district hit its lowest point.

Beaverton has hired 350 teachers so far this summer, construction bond projects are ramping up and gleaming new computers will greet students across the district on Sept. 2.

"This is going to be a great year. It's going to be so much fun," Rose said. "There will be some challenges, some unforeseen, like every year, but I think we are really headed to a place in Beaverton we have not experienced in the past."

The district still has a ways to go, he added, but it's getting better.

Class sizes, which were enormous in 2012-13 after massive layoffs and remained large in 2013-14, will improve this school year, Rose said.

"We're pleased but not satisfied," he said. "They will continue to be better."

The district set a goal this year for classes below 30 students in grades K-3 and below 34 in grades 4-5. In middle school, core classes will be in the mid 30s and in high school, core classes will have less than 40, said Maureen Wheeler, district spokeswoman.

"We'll have people there helping, but they will be squished," Rose said.

He spent an hour talking about what's to come in 2014-15, including the upcoming legislative year, new district programs, educator collaboration, the bond, music programs, Common Core and technology.

Legislative year – Beaverton honed its skills in the political arena over the last couple of years and plans to use that to its advantage this coming biennium. "We have so many things that allow our voice to resonate in the state," Rose said, pointing to population growth, major corporations, and diversity. "We're really recognizing that in ourselves. It's kind of an awakening."

New programs – All of the districts secondary schools, except Arts & Communication Magnet Academy, chose to add a program called AVID to their repertoire. Principals attended training this summer, but it will be slowly implemented in the district, Rose said. AVID focuses on under-achieving students who have the potential to be great learners. With support, they will take Advanced Placement courses to help them prepare for college. The program cost the district $825,000.

Collaboration – Last year, schools established teacher collaboration teams and squeezed in time to meet and talk about individual students and strategies for lessons.

"Everybody has established time but there's not enough of it," Rose said. "This is an issue we as a district continue to grapple with." Parents fought the district in 2010 and teachers voted it down in 2012 when the district moved toward early release or late start of classes to allow teachers collaboration time.

Bond – The district is in the process of creating a bond oversight committee of citizens to ensure transparency of bond spending and projects, Rose said, of the $680 million bond voters passed last May.

"Our success with the bond will continue to build trust," Rose said. "If we do it right, I think our community can only appreciate how we have been good stewards of those dollars."

Music – Beaverton is trying to make up for decades of loss among its music programs, Rose said. He sees the rebuilding effort as districtwide with collaboration at all levels rather than "islands of excellence," he said. "We believe in systemic excellence in music. We're creating the staff and structure so music teachers can collaborate across the district. The elementary programs influence the middle and high schools."

The district hired a music teacher on special assignment to work on that collaboration across the schools and increased the number of elementary music teachers for the coming school year.

Common core – Rose is concerned that people will confuse Common Core standards, which are already in place in the district, with the testing of the standards known as the Smarter Balanced assessment.

"Common Core is a set of standards," he said. "We've always had standards. Are they different? Yes. Do they focus on depth versus breadth? Yes. Do they hold us accountable to a new level of thinking? Yes. How we assess it sometimes gets hijacked with the politics of accountability."

"We are going to remind teachers and parents that a score on an assessment is not a demonstration of intelligence," Rose said. "We cannot get in a place of panicking when we see a score on Smarter Balanced and make the jump to OAKS."

"It's a step in our learning," Rose said. "We have to remind ourselves technology is only a tool. Our goal is quality of instruction."

The district is also funding 17 innovation grants for teachers to try out their technological ideas on tablets or other devices. The best of the ideas will be available for adoption in more classrooms.

"The innovative grants are going to be very important to us," Rose said. "Those will touch 9000 to 10,000 kids this year."

Lastly, Rose is excited about something only a superintendent could get excited about for the coming school year – the strategic plan.

Don't stop reading, yet.

The strategic plan is summarized into four pillars seen on posters and school websites around the district – innovation, equity, collaboration, and excellence.

This year, every school and district department from nutrition services to maintenance will develop a plan that explains their efforts to meet each of the pillars.

"They will be honing and crafting their plan that aligns with our strategic plan," Rose said.

District leaders will track the data and determine whether the department or school is on track or struggling, Rose said.